1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a vehicle, and more particularly to a vehicle including a system for detecting the presence of animate objects (e.g., passengers, pets, etc.) and for controlling the information system user interface in an appropriate manner.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer technology for providing information and application functions to automotive vehicles is becoming pervasive. For example, vehicles are being outfitted with computers that contain display devices, speech synthesis, text-to-speech (TTS) interfaces, and a multitude of input devices such as speech recognition, remote control devices, keyboards, track balls, joysticks, touch-screens, etc.
These computerized devices are useful for controlling a vehicle or for the entertainment of the vehicle occupants (e.g., see U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/311,277 entitled "Information System for Mobile Users", filed on May 14, 1999, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/357,840, entitled "System and Method for Network Vehicle Diagnostics and Health Monitoring" filed on Jul. 20, 1999, both incorporated herein by reference).
While the above described equipment is widespread, there has been little recognition of the cognitive burden placed on a driver by these devices, particularly those which do not contribute to a driver's primary responsibility of controlling a vehicle in a safe and responsive manner.
A driver's senses may be fully occupied as a result of the large cognitive load demanded for driving a vehicle safely. To operate a vehicle safely, drivers use their hands for steering and manipulating other vehicle user interfaces such as the gear shift, turn signals, windshield wipers, heating mechanism, and parking brake. The driver also must focus attention on the road, on the traffic, and on vehicle operation devices such as rear-view mirrors, speedometer, gas gauge, and tachometer.
Distracting or complex output presented to the driver or requirements for complicated user input may result in accidents. These must be filtered or controlled while the driver is operating the vehicle. As a result, in-vehicle devices providing information unrelated to driving a vehicle should be easy to operate and not distracting.
Conversely, the same demands for attention are not placed on passengers. Therefore, a device which would be too complicated and distracting for a driver may not be rich enough information-wise for passengers who are able to focus more of their attention on a device not used to control the vehicle. Passengers are free to use computational apparatus and information delivery systems.
With the conventional systems, a problem has been the lack of tailoring of vehicle information system functions, input and output devices, and the user interface based upon composition of the passenger group.
The problem of identifying the presence of passengers in a motor vehicle and the importance of controlling vehicle safety systems has been recognized previously. Identifying passengers in a vehicle is accomplished using a variety of means. For example, force sensors, ultrasonic detectors, capacitance detectors, optical detectors, and sound detectors have been used. Passengers are detected in order to enable or advise the use of safety devices such as seat belts or air bags.
Further, the problem of adapting user interfaces has also been recognized previously. For instance, an example is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,648,755 entitled "Display System" and incorporated herein by reference, which teaches the tailoring of the visual display for operating instruments as a function of the driving conditions of the vehicle.
However, none of the conventional systems teaches modifying an information system user interface based upon the presence or absence of passengers. Neither does any system even address the presence of detecting non-human passengers (e.g., pets, animal cargo, etc.) in a vehicle and the effect of in-vehicle devices on such non-human passengers.